1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electrical connector for detachable connection of a multi-core cable to a mating connector, with a grip body which surrounds the cable and the cores of the cable, with a contact carrier which holds or accommodates a plurality of contact elements and with a pivotally arranged sleeve-shaped threaded part, the individual contact elements being connected electrically conductively to the individual cores and the sleeve-shaped threaded-part can be screwed to a corresponding sleeve-shaped threaded part of the mating connector.
In addition, the invention relates to an electrical plug-and-socket connection to a connector and a mating connector, the connector having a union nut as the sleeve-shaped threaded part and the mating connector having an outer sleeve with an inner thread which corresponds to the external thread of the union nut of the connector and a mating contact carrier which holds or accommodates a plurality of mating contact elements. Finally, the invention also relates to a method for connecting the cores of a multi-core cable to an electrical connector.
2. Description of Related Art
Electrical plug-and-socket connections consist essentially of two parts, the electrical connector and the mating connector. Both the connector and also the mating connector each have a contact carrier with a plurality of contacts which are either contact pins or corresponding jacks. Depending on whether there are contact pins or jacks in the respective contact carrier, the pertinent connecting part is also called a plug or a socket. In practice, it is generally such that the connector whose contact carrier has contact pins, i.e., the plug, has a union nut with an external thread as sleeve-shaped threaded part and the connector, in whose contact carrier there are jacks, i.e., the socket, has an outer sleeve with an inner thread. If two cables are connected to one another with the plug-and-socket connection, the outer sleeve of the socket is made as a type of union nut.
These electrical plug-and-socket connections and connectors are used as industrial plugs in automation engineering, both in switching cabinets and also in field devices in various versions. Especially models M8 and M12 with 4, 5, 6 or even 8 contacts are widely used. The connectors are used to connect cable sets with a corresponding number of cores, the individual cores each being comprised of a conductor and a core insulation which surrounds the conductor and being surrounded jointly by cable insulation. Instead of a solid conductor, the cores can also have several litz wires, subsequently—without limitation thereto—only conductors being addressed; this is thus intended to also comprise litz wires.
Electrical connectors can either be freely prepared or already completely wired, then the contact carrier and the cable generally are covered by the grip body. The grip body itself can also be produced by coating of the contact carrier.
In a connector which cannot be freely prepared by the consumer, the electrical and mechanical connection of the individual wires and conductors of a cable to the individual contact elements takes place especially by a solder connection or by a crimp connection. In crimp connection technology, the stripped end of a core is axially inserted into a corresponding connecting sleeve (crimp sleeve) or a sleeve-shaped end section of the contact element and then connected electrically and mechanically to the crimp sleeve or contact element by mechanically pressing the crimp sleeve or the sleeve-shaped end section together. By crimping, which has been standardized in DIN EN 60352-2, a solder-free electrical connection takes place and the crimp connection can be produced both by manual crimping tools and also by means of semiautomatic or fully automatic crimping machines. The stripping of the cores and the crimping of the contact elements can be done mechanically in one pass so that crimping technology has largely displaced soldering.
Electrical plug-and-socket connections are interfaces which transmit electrical signals or power, the plug-and-socket connections and the connectors, depending on the application, have to meet certain requirements. In connectors which are used in signal and data technology, especially in those connectors which are used within networks and field busses, certain high frequency boundary conditions must be considered according to the data transmission rate of the respective network or field bus in order to ensure faultless transmission of signals and data.
If the connectors or plug-and-socket connections are used for signal and data technology not only in office buildings, but also in a rough industrial environment, the connectors and plug-and-socket connections must be made accordingly more durable and must have a degree of protection as high as possible, preferably conforming with the IP67 protection rating. For this reason, commercial RJ45 plugs, as are known from office communications, can only be used to a limited degree in the industrial domain. Therefore, protective housings, so-called grommet housings, have been developed which can accommodate a RJ45 plug which is already connected to a cable and can thus protect the plug against external effects and damage. A corresponding protective housing is disclosed for example, in German Patent DE 100 31 341 C2 and corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 6,666,709 B2.
In order to be able to use the connectors of the model M12 type, which are common for industrial applications and which have sufficient mechanical durability and protection rating, even in the area of signal and data technology, especially in networks and field busses—and here, especially also for Ethernet applications—their inner structure must be modified such that the requirements can be satisfied with respect to data transmission. In particular, for higher transmission rates, connectors with a larger number of contacts, especially with eight contacts, are necessary. If the number of contacts is increased, this leads—for otherwise uniform diameter of the connector—to more expensive mounting of the connector and to more expensive connection of the individual cores to the individual contact elements as a result of the smaller dimensions.